----- Original Message ----- From: Boulder Belt Organics <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Teel Adams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Doug Adamson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Saundra Altman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Steve Bonney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Cissy Bowman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Mark and Anji Brockmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Anne Bulford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Lynn Byczinski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Ericka Dana <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Lyn Chapis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Marshall Chrostowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Clear Creek/Announce <"wagneja"@earlham.edu>; Carmen Cubillo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Dennis Lamont <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; E. Paul Ray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Organicgrowing <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Sue Geier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Elspeth Gilmour <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; randy Grey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Bob Harris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Jessica Doench <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Aleen Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Kim Jacobs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Lynn Johnstone &l Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 1:24 PM Subject: [organicgrowing] [Fwd: Here Come the Genetically Engineered Insects] > > Here Come the Genetically Engineered Insects > > Friday, 9 February, 2001, 10:08 GMT > Go-ahead for GM insect release > > The pink bollworm is a major pest of cotton worldwide > > By BBC News Online's Helen Briggs > > The first release of a genetically modified insect is expected to take place > in the United States this summer. > > A moth has been engineered to contain a gene from a jellyfish in the first > stage of a genetic experiment designed to eradicate the cotton-destroying > pest from the wild. > > A total of 3,600 of the moths will be set free under a cage within a > one-hectare (three-acre) cotton field in Arizona. > > Our ultimate plans are to insert conditional lethal genes > > UCL entomologist Thomas Miller The experiment is likely to raise concern > among environmental groups. > > But the researchers behind it say there is "minimal" risk of the genetically > modified insects escaping. As an added precaution, the insects have been > sterilised. > > Pink pest > > Thomas Miller of the Department of Entomology, University of California, > told BBC News Online: "It is very important for us that the public > understands what we're doing and why. We are not trying to create something > that causes more trouble than we already have. > > "We have plenty of trouble with pink bollworm. It's an absolute nightmare > and it's caused a lot of people to go bankrupt. > > "There's two things about this release. Number one, we're only going to use > sterilised insects in the first go around. Even if they get out, there's no > chance of them breeding. > > "Second of all, they are going to be in field cages. The people who are > going to do this work have years of experience working with these field > cages. > > "They know what is involved in maintaining them and the only way an enclosed > population is going to get loose is if a hurricane comes through and rips > the field cages to shreds. There hasn't been a hurricane in Arizona in these > areas in living memory. > > "One thing we do know: the native population is a champion at survival. It > has so far resisted any attempts to eradicate it except in central > California. > > "Our ultimate plans are to insert conditional lethal genes that will fight > against this enormously successful tendency to survive and infest cotton." > > Approval pending > > US regulators have yet to give the greenlight to the release but Professor > Miller says he is optimistic the field trials, planned for the summer, will > be given the go-ahead in the next few weeks. > > The pink bollworm, a major pest of commercial cotton in the southwest, is > not native to the US but hitched a ride there in the 1920s, probably in > cotton shipments from India. > > The larvae are tiny white caterpillars with dark brown heads that burrow > into cotton bolls causing devastation to the crop. They grow into > greyish-brown moths. > > Engineered mosquitos could play a key role in pest control > > The engineered moths contain a genetic marker, a green fluorescent protein > (GFP) derived from the jellyfish, which makes caterpillars inheriting the > gene glow green under fluorescent light. > > In the first stage of the experiment, the scientists plan to release the > moths under a seven-metre (24-foot) long cage in a small test site remote > from commercial cotton fields. > > Insect control > > The field trials could pave the way for the first attempt to eradicate > insects from the wild by releasing genetically modified laboratory strains. > By inserting an inherited lethal trait into the moth the scientists believe > they might be able to "get rid of the pink bollworm" from the US altogether. > > Similar research is focusing on the disease-carrying mosquito. Researchers > from the US and Taiwan have modified the yellow fever mosquito to make it > produce a powerful antibacterial protein, limiting its ability to transmit > disease. > > If such insects were ever released in the wild, they might supplant infected > natural populations, helping in the fight against human disease. > > GM salmon is awaiting approval by US regulators > > Besides insects, a number of other transgenic animals are on the way. The US > Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently deciding whether to allow a > fast-growing genetically modified salmon on to American dinner plates. > Scientists believe genetically modified carp may already be in commercial > use in China while genetically modified tilapia may be in use in Cuba. > > Other examples of aquatic GMOs include transgenic channel catfish, modified > Pacific oysters and hybrid striped bass. > > "The general root of superstition is that men observe > when things hit, and not when they miss, and commit > to memory the one, and pass over the other..." > -Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626 Lucy Goodman-Owsley Boulder Belt Organics New Paris, OH http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/boulderbeltcsa > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~> eGroups is now Yahoo! 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